All Phase Remodeling

Mark (General Contractor) hired a custom cabinet maker, he would paint the cabinets, and he recommended an electrician for the job, which we hired separately. We asked him if we needed to hire a plumber to reconnect the sinks after the countertops were installed, and to install the dishwasher at its new location; he said no, that would not be a big deal for him to take care of. At the beginning of the project I gave him dimensioned plans for the new layout of my kitchen/laundry, for my cabinetry, and a diagram for the new lighting (where which switches operate what, and where the new outlets are). All went well until the cabinet guy started delaying the project. First he had an accident with his trailer, we were told that would delay him a couple of days as it was not our cabinetry that was in the trailer at the time. The delay was getting the new trailer. So they show up: No cabinet had the dimensions specified in my plans, and the lower cabinets were higher than any standard cabinet is. On their second try, some cabinets were the right size, some weren?t. I offered them to fix the boxes here at the house as I feared the continuous back and forth would further damage them. This went on for 3 months until they kept rescheduling on the days they were supposed to be here, 6 days in a row. With an impending house guest and no kitchen I demanded Mark to fix the situation once and for all. He then hired a local cabinet guy to fix all that was wrong and finish the kitchen, assuring me that he himself would take care of the paint prep (puddy, caulk) to perfection. Meanwhile the original cabinet guy showed up with the missing cabinet doors, which did not match the doors he brought another time. A tall cabinet he installed left a 4? gab between it and the lower cabinet, but not the upper cabinet, when confronted he said that I had asked him to follow directions. ?!? It?s not pick and choose which dimensions to follow when you have a plan. New guy did ok, there are still some issues to be taken care of such as the openings for the Dishwasher, doubleoven, Microwave/vent are to big, and the fronts need to be adjusted, and I am missing my lazy susan. Time to paint the boxes. Mark did NOT properly prep them before priming, assured me that he would get all the remaining prep in before painting. Well, there is only one top coat instead of the promised two, there are still nail holes, dings, and other blemishes visible, AND he did not cover everything on the cabinets, so I can see primer. I asked him to resolve the issues before he brought the fronts back and installed them. No such luck. I am now looking at doors and fronts that are badly damaged (scraped, dented, paint peeling off) from his trailer, which he insists can be fixed with touch ups. He now wants the cabinet guy to line up and adjust the fronts before he continues. Right now, my kitchen looks like someone in a high school wood shop built and painted it. Oh and then the dishwasher, he hooked it up all right. Flooded my kitchen three times, I am still running the fans to make sure I get all the moisture out. I finally got a plumber out and am thrilled to have a dishwasher back after 5 months of pain. (Let?s not go into how Mark used a drain line as a supply line and routed the drain so that it would back up?..) At this point, going on 6 months on a two month job, Mark is difficult to get a hold of, when he shows, he shows hours later than expected (sometimes days later), stays only a few hours to do two or three things that need to be done from the punch list I supplied him, but are definitely not a priority on the greater picture of a kitchen remodel. He schedules others to come to my house with no regard of my schedule. I don?t have much else going on, but he is always informed on when the house is not available, so I do get upset a bit, when I am trying to get out the driveway and someone shows up, insisting on access, which I won?t grant to some sub-contractor without me being there, as this is my home. On other days, I wait and wait and wait, and none shows up as promised. Much of the past 6 months I have spent been spent waiting, 180 days, of which the residence was not available to contractors for only 14 days. Now to his buddy the electrician. I don?t have much to say about that guy, other than that he too does not follow directions and plans, then tries to tell me I never told him that, for example, the under cabinet lighting was supposed to be on one switch. (Buddy, we drew it on the wall as we talked about it during bidding and again when you started the job, I got proof that I did tell you, and you received a diagram.) It is hard to get a hold of the guy, to get him to call me back, and when he finally shows, he?ll spend 3 hours on site, half of which is spent smoking in the driveway, talking on the phone: and then he complains that this job is soooo much more complicated than expected and he is spending all this time on these different trips to come over here. Makes me smile. In conclusion, not sure where we go from here, but one thing is for sure: I am done spending my time waiting and trying to get a hold of a contractor, who may or may not show up at an unscheduled time to finish or not finish the job he was CONTRACTED for. Update 5-6-2013 Another month has passed, some sub contractor (registered child s** offender!?!?!?!?!? I have a two year old!!!!) was here for 3 days, did a couple of things really badly, i.e.messed up the plaster on the ceiling, the attempt of shoe mold is laughable, damaged the brand new vinyl tile. Smoked inside my garage so it pulled the fumes in my house. Left all his tools and materials all over. Won't have him back for his quality and record. I had asked Phelps to come over here to check out the work, before we continued, he agreed, yet again did not show. The following week I had a family emergency and the house was not available. Now, supposedly Phelps is looking for an appropriate worker to finish the kitchen. My remark was that he was the hired contractor, that we had a contract with him, not others, it would be just fine if he came and finished the job himself with a helper. So he proceeds to tell me that he was trying to make a living. Funny, thought I paid for some of that in exchange for a finished product. Now, a week later, and again, no word from Phelps, . No show/word on the electrician as well. Update 6-3-2013 Am ordering a new front door today, as the fix Mark provided (installing new hardware and weather stripping) destroyed our custom door. Our 2" thick entry door is now cracked through the center (at 1") of the panel, and offers no protection from the elements, not even speaking of the security risks.... Since the last update, we have received some estimates for what it would take to finish our project, and fix all that was done wrong, all that was broken: $22-25K. So, This was the last update......